Yummy Food Served On Your Car Window

Forget daylight savings, thawing ice and chirping robins - the real sign of spring in metro Jersey is the opening of Stewart’s Drive-In.

Whether you’re driving along Passaic Avenue in Kearny, River Road in North Arlington, or coming over the bridge from Belleville, look out for this landmark’s famous orange awning. If you’re lucky and it’s not too crowded, you’ll be able to pull right up, turn on your headlights and get served right at your car window. After about 20 minutes, piping hot food is placed on a tray that’s attached to your rolled-down window; ah, if only the waiters were on roller skates.

If you don’t find a parking spot, or for some reason prefer to eat at a table in your home, you can go inside to get an order to go. But I recommend staying and eating in your car. A place like this offers memories across the generations - both my dad and I remember coming here as kids. What sticks out in my mind most? The root beer (which you can buy bottled in most stores and was created as a competitor to the west coast’s A&W brand) and their cheese steaks. One day I’ll remember to bring a friend from Philly to see if they’ll give their cheese steaks an honest taste test. In the meantime, you’ll just have to trust me. Grilled onions, peppers and what I can only guess is cheese whiz fill toasted buns that stand up to the grease just fine.

The other thing that really stands out to me is that while their fries are okay, it’s their pirogies I really crave (they only have potato and come 3 to an order). They are crispy around the edges and hot and soft everywhere else - perfect, even without sour cream. Aside from the cheese steaks, their kielbasa sandwich with sauerkraut and mustard is perfectly seasoned and their burgers (they have a standard variety) are juicy if not too big. Most guys will want to order more than one. For you true Jerseyites, you’ll want to opt for the Lumber Jack Burger, a 1/4 lb. burger with 3 slices of Taylor Ham on a Hard Roll.

They also have Italian sausage sandwiches (with peppers, onions and potatoes on a roll) and fried sides such as onion rings, chicken nuggets, breaded mushroom caps, which I always get, and breaded broccoli-cheese(whiz) bites, which I’m not too fond of, but my family is. Their wings aren’t too bad, either. As a kid, I loved their hot dogs until our family switched to kosher dogs (because of what most dogs are usually made of). So, I can’t tell you what they’re like now. What I can tell you is they’re not skimpy. They have chili dogs, a 1/4 lb dog, an Italian dog, and a dog with bacon and cheese.

And the prices are just as you’d expect from such an old-fashioned, laid-back place; sandwiches and pirogies for five people, plus wings and some of the fried sides set us back only $40.

So, before the climate-changing May snowstorms blanket the area (or, before they close again in October), you better enjoy spring in Stewart’s style - sitting in your car, sucking on other people’s exhaust fumes and consuming vats of greasy fried food served at your window. And no, it’s nothing like ordering drive-thru from McDonald’s and then eating it guiltily in your car before heading home.

While it is a franchise chain (apparently you’ll find a few in West Virginia and other parts of Jersey), Stewart’s is a unique, seasonal experience and you won’t find anything like it in NYC.

And one thing you must get when you come: an authentic root beer float!

Stewart’s Drive-In
938 Passaic Avenue
Kearny
(201) 998-0600
http://www.stewartsfood.com

— by Donna M.
Donna is both a Jersey native and recent transplant from NYC. She is executive editor and a co-founder of GoOutJersey.

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